The Wallace Collection » great galleryhttp://wallacecollection.org/blog
Tue, 17 Mar 2015 13:52:11 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.2Time-Lapse Video of the Great Gallery re-hanghttp://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/09/time-lapse-video-of-the-great-gallery-re-hang/
http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/09/time-lapse-video-of-the-great-gallery-re-hang/#commentsThu, 25 Sep 2014 12:31:48 +0000http://wallacecollection.org/blog/?p=3358Read More]]>The Great Gallery, one of the finest collections of Old Master paintings in the world, re-opened on 19 September following its two-year refurbishment… and we teamed up with Site-Eye to capture the re-hang on a time lapse camera!

]]>http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/09/time-lapse-video-of-the-great-gallery-re-hang/feed/0The Great Gallery has reopenedhttp://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/08/the-great-gallery-re-opens-19-september/
http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/08/the-great-gallery-re-opens-19-september/#commentsFri, 29 Aug 2014 09:52:57 +0000http://wallacecollection.org/blog/?p=3329Read More]]>‘One of the most jaw-dropping collections of old master paintings anywhere in the world’. The Guardian

‘Welcome to the best room in London’. The Times

‘***** the gallery now looks twice as big, twice as grand, and twice as glamorous as it did before’. The Telegraph

‘Though it is state of the art, the gallery looks splendidly 19th-century’. The Economist

The Great Gallery, one of the finest collections of Old Master paintings in the world, has reopened with a new hang following its two-year refurbishment. Described as “the greatest picture gallery in Europe” by art historian Kenneth Clark, the Great Gallery is a collection from which we all know at least one picture. The display features some of art history’s most familiar sights, including Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier, Rubens’ The Rainbow Landscape, Poussin’s A Dance to the Music of Time and Velázquez’ The Lady with a Fan.

The reopening has provided an opportunity to reconsider the hang and showcase the cultural dialogue that was occurring between the major centres of seventeenth-century artistic creativity – Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and France. Exhibiting artists from these great national schools side-by-side makes the Great Gallery hang unique for an art gallery, reveals the museum’s origins as a private collection, and offers the viewer a rewarding and immersive experience. We even captured the full re-hang from April to September on a time-lapse camera, the video of which can be viewed by clicking here.

Key to the extensive refurbishment is the reconfiguration of the gallery’s ceiling, which will now feature a large central lay light, replacing the most recent 1970s design and reflecting the ceiling in the time of Sir Richard Wallace. This will allow the space to be filled with daylight, which will be carefully controlled to ensure a safe environment for the works of art and provide the best modern viewing conditions, assisted by an advanced new lighting scheme. Other changes will see all internal decorations and gilding refreshed, the replacement of the old wall fabric with a vibrant, crimson silk damask and the installation of decorative wainscot panelling.

Nicolas Poussin, A Dance to the Music of Time, c.1634 – c.1636

The Great Gallery was built by Sir Richard Wallace between 1872-5 as part of his major extension of Hertford House to accommodate his collection’s move from Paris to London. As was typical for great private residences, the Gallery was positioned behind the private living quarters in order to create a magnificent impact at the culmination of any visit. Constructed over what had originally been a mews behind the house, the vast space would have been hugely impressive to the small groups of guests who were privileged enough to be shown the collection. It was characteristic of Wallace’s philanthropic nature that he lent many of his works of art to the Bethnal Green Museum in one of the poorest parts of London during this re-development. The exhibition drew huge crowds and helped to make the collection famous in England.

The Great Gallery houses one of the world’s most important collections of Dutch and Flemish still lives by Weenix and Hondecoeter and, fittingly, two pairs of their majestic compositions of trophies of the hunt have been cleaned. The new Great Gallery display will also include some major pieces that were previously positioned elsewhere in the Collection. Lemoyne’s Perseus and Andromeda and Time Saving Truth from Falsehood and Envy will be introduced, two examples of dramatic French history painting that showcase the juncture between the seventeenth-century classicising style of Poussin and the more sensual and decorative eighteenth-century style of Lemoyne’s pupil Boucher, so ably represented elsewhere in the Collection. Lemoyne’s masterpiece, Perseus and Andromeda, can now be admired beside Titian’s picture of the same subject. This comparison demonstrates the great importance of Venetian Renaissance painting to the development of European art.

Titian was a link and inspiration for many of the great masters represented in the Great Gallery. His influence drew many to Italy, influenced by its colour, light and techniques. Some, such as Poussin and Claude, identified themselves as more Italian than French. Velázquez, Rubens, and his pupil, Van Dyck, all spent time there, as well as meeting and competing for commissions and patronage at the great courts of Europe. This fertile creative environment is reflected in the hang and will offer visitors a very special insight into the period and rare opportunity to see the greatest artists of the day united.

The reopening will be accompanied by an extensive programme of special events and evening openings.

]]>http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2014/08/the-great-gallery-re-opens-19-september/feed/1Behind the Scenes of the Great Gallery Refurbishmenthttp://wallacecollection.org/blog/2013/04/behind-the-scenes-of-the-great-gallery-refurbishment/
http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2013/04/behind-the-scenes-of-the-great-gallery-refurbishment/#commentsTue, 30 Apr 2013 15:08:22 +0000http://wallacecollection.org/blog/?p=1964Read More]]>If you’ve been down to the Wallace Collection of late, you may have spotted that one of our galleries is undergoing a makeover…

The Great Gallery, the largest gallery at the Wallace Collection, has been closed since October 2012 to allow much-needed refurbishment works to be undertaken. The hang of the works of art had been in place for over thirty years, and the gallery was in urgent need of care and attention to bring it up to the same standard as our other beautiful rooms. Due to reopen in autumn 2014, the finished gallery will feature new, rich red wall silk, a raised ceiling, beautiful decoration – from gilded coving to parquet flooring – and a sophisticated new lighting scheme.

While you will hopefully have been enjoying the new temporary display of the Great Gallery works of art in our other sumptuous rooms here at the Wallace Collection, the Great Gallery itself has been undergoing a transformation. In recent months, the rather tired old silk has been taken down, the scaffolding has gone up, and the roof has been, quite literally, raised!

As the roof demolition continues, we thought you might like to see some behind the scenes photos of the progress being made. We will keep you updated on the refurbishment throughout this year and the next, and we look forward to unveiling the Great Gallery to you in all its glory next year. Do let us know what you think of the progress, and whether you like seeing these special behind the scenes shots: you can get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter (@WallaceMuseum), and at enquiries@wallacecollection.org.

1. The internal demolition of the Great Gallery is well underway. The walls have been stripped back to the original brickwork and the ceiling has been almost completely demolished, exposing the roof void steels and service ducts. We have built a crash deck scaffold in the gallery to provide access for high-level demolition; in this picture, the apparent ‘floor’ is actually the top of the crash deck. To the right of the picture one can see the cornice and the remnants of the coving (with the gilded trellis pattern), making it easier to picture the height of the deck.

2. The Great Gallery at floor level, underneath the crash deck. The walls have been stripped and the floor protected.

3. The first hole in the Great Gallery roof! This hole is currently used as site access in and out of the Great Gallery from the external scaffold. All of the waste from the demolition is taken out this way.

4. The temporary roof is under construction. Once finished this will be fully weathertight, allowing us to demolish the Great Gallery roof. The zinc ridge and glass panels of the existing roof are visible. In the background you can see the huge glass triangle of the Collection’s courtyard glass roof, above the restaurant.

5 & 6. The temporary roof under construction.

We look forward to keeping you up to date with the changes as they happen over the coming months, and do please come and visit the other beautiful rooms at the Collection which are open for the duration of the refurbishment project.

Helen JacobsProject Manager

]]>http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2013/04/behind-the-scenes-of-the-great-gallery-refurbishment/feed/1Our new StickyWorld!http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2013/04/our-new-stickyworld/
http://wallacecollection.org/blog/2013/04/our-new-stickyworld/#commentsWed, 24 Apr 2013 14:51:02 +0000http://wallacecollection.org/blog/?p=2008Read More]]>We are always looking for fresh and interesting ways to use new technologies to connect with our visitors. For the last 8 months we have been working with the team at StickyWorld to capture our Great Gallery refurbishment project.

This initiative has been funded by IC tomorrow, part of the Technology Strategy Board. IC tomorrow supports innovation and economic growth in the digital sector by running a range of funded contests. One of these contests linked digital start-up companies with leading cultural organisations and the Wallace Collection was lucky to be partnered with StickyWorld. The money provided by IC tomorrow has allowed StickyWorld to develop their platform using HTML5 and allowed us to document one of our most exciting projects of recent years; the refurbishment of the Great Gallery. The gallery is currently closed until summer 2014, but our new StickyWorld allows you to explore how the gallery used to look and lets you link to information about the objects that were previously displayed there, much of which is now in store. We are also posting photos of the build as the project progresses and you can comment and ask questions to museum staff by leaving virtual sticky notes on the slides. We’ll do our best to answer them all!

You can visit the room by clicking on the image above.

Please do try this exciting new application. We’re really interested to know what you think!